Shiga stood under the Moonblade Fortress, gazing up at the towering city walls.
It had been a long time since he was last here, and he couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic.
His eyes shifted to the newly gleaming metal gate.
As expected, it had been replaced.
The last time he was here, he had struck the gate with all his might, shattering it with a single blow. If it hadn't been for the tricky magical traps set by the Elven mages inside and outside the walls, they might have successfully breached the fortress that day.
Though, considering the Silvermoon Kingdom's national strength, even if they had captured the fortress, they wouldn't have been able to hold it. Still, it would have dealt a significant blow to the morale of the Alliance...
No, no, the peace treaty has been signed now. I shouldn't be thinking about these things, Shiga reminded himself in his mind.
But it wasn't entirely his fault. At this moment, Elven mages and archers wearing sun hoods stood in formation atop the fortress walls. While they hadn't drawn weapons, they were on high alert, which inevitably reminded him of the tense atmosphere during the war.
Clearly, the Moonblade Fortress was still on guard for his arrival. His last visit had left a deep impression on the soldiers stationed here.
The Elves' vigilance didn't offend Shiga. On the contrary, he felt that such "attention" from his former enemies was the greatest honor a warrior could receive.
After all, this level of military presence wasn't enough to pose a threat to him...
The gates slowly opened, and the person to greet him finally appeared.
It was an Elven woman in an elaborate mage's robe, her silver hair flowing gracefully, and wearing a delicate crown. Her symmetrical, sculpted face bore no expression, but her pale blue eyes conveyed a hint of life.
Leaning on her staff, she walked out from the gate, followed by two rows of attendants.
Shiga immediately recognized her. "Ah, you're…"
"Welcome, guest from the Thunderfang Tribe," the Elven woman said in a calm and steady voice. "I am Fyria Frostwhisper, Chief Mage of the Silvermoon Kingdom. It's an honor to meet you, hero of the Thunderfang Tribe, Shiga Thunder Roar."
"Oh, I remember you! You were the Elven mage riding the silver dragon!" Shiga immediately recalled, a knowing smile spreading across his face. "It's a pleasure to finally know your name, miss. I didn't expect such a powerful individual would come personally to greet me."
Two years ago, Fyria led a group of mages and an Imperial knight order to attack the Bloodstone Fortress, which Shiga was defending. She had also faced Shiga directly on the battlefield, so he had a deep impression of her.
"After the war, I was assigned a new position. You will soon be stationed at the Central Moonlight Academy, and I am the new principal there," Fyria replied calmly.
"Well, what a twist of fate! A worthy opponent on the battlefield, and now you're going to be my boss," Shiga laughed heartily.
While Shiga was warm and enthusiastic, Fyria only gave a subtle nod, her face still neutral. She extended her hand towards the gates. "Please follow me. I will accompany you to Moonlight City."
Shiga followed Fyria through the gates, while the Orc warriors acting as his guards and honor guard stood outside the walls, bowing solemnly to his retreating figure.
Fyria then led him to a luxurious carriage. "Please, get in," she said.
"Since we'll be working together from now on, let's just use first names. You don't need to be so formal with me; I'm not used to these kinds of formalities," Shiga said, gesturing for Fyria to relax.
"Alright, Shiga," Fyria quickly accepted but reminded him, "But when you meet others, it's better to show some basic manners. Now, please get in. The journey to Moonlight City will take about three days. It will be a long trip, so I ask for your understanding."
"Why don't you summon your dragon to carry us over? We could get there much faster," Shiga asked curiously.
He remembered that Fyria could summon a silver dragon to fight alongside her on the battlefield. Given the size of the dragon, it would be more than enough to carry the two of them flying.
"That dragon..." Fyria paused, then continued, "is still recovering from injuries."
"It's been at least a year and a half. I remember dragons recover pretty quickly, don't they?" Shiga rubbed his chin in confusion.
"Anyway, I'm sorry, but this is the only mode of transport I can provide for now. Please make do," Fyria didn't offer further explanation.
During the attack on Bloodstone Fortress, the silver dragon Fyria had contracted was shot down by Shiga with an arrow to the joint at the root of its wing. The arrow was made from dragonbone, and its specially crafted tip pierced through the dragon's scales, penetrating over a meter deep. Later, Fyria speculated that Shiga had hunted dragons before.
Then, during the battle, the silver dragon took a heavy blow from Shiga's axe to the head. Although it didn't cause immediate brain damage, the shock from the blow gave the dragon a splitting headache that lasted for weeks.
The dragon was still young and had little experience facing strong enemies. It had barely been injured before. As a result, it was defeated by a legendary Orc warrior with no ability to retaliate, leaving it with significant psychological trauma.
Since then, whenever the dragon encountered Orcs on the battlefield, it would show signs of fear, and Fyria estimated that seeing Shiga in person might trigger an extreme reaction.
In the end, Shiga sat in the carriage across from Fyria.
As the convoy began to move, Shiga, wanting to prevent the silence from lingering too long, broke the ice by starting a conversation. "When I was at war, I dreamed of the day we would sign a peace treaty, but now that peace has come, I occasionally find myself missing the times when I fought against strong opponents like you."
"Is that so? Well, those are past events. What matters now is that peace endures…" Fyria turned her gaze towards the window.
"Even so, we can still find opportunities to spar from time to time, right? Speaking of which, you used quite a variety of spells in that fight. Do you have any hidden tricks you didn't use?" Shiga continued, his interest piqued.
"Shiga!" Fyria finally couldn't take it anymore, sighing deeply. She turned to him with a furrowed brow. "I've been trying to avoid discussing that battle, why do you keep bringing it up?"
Shiga was taken aback. "I just wanted to talk about something we both experienced. After all, we fought together in such an intense battle, didn't we? A worthy opponent is rare…"
"Only you would think that way. Not everyone can enjoy fighting when their life is on the line!" Fyria pointed at Shiga sternly. "Let me be honest with you, I don't miss our battle at all. Do you know, I almost got cleaved in two by you? Any normal person would have some psychological trauma from that!"
"But didn't you escape with magic in the end? I was the one who got hurt more when I tried to break into the enemy lines by myself…" Shiga corrected her.
"Can we please not talk about this anymore?" Fyria raised her hand to stop the conversation, then took out a document. "Let's discuss your upcoming work arrangements instead."